Lycoming County is set to receive the final installment of state and federal money needed to pay for the renovation of a covered bridge in Moreland Township.
On Thursday, the commissioners approved a reimbursement agreement with the state Department of Transportation to allow the county to receive about $100,000. That brings to about $1.3 million the amount of state and federal funds spent to renovate the bridge, which spans Little Muncy Creek in the township.
The cost of the renovation was covered entirely by state and federal funds, Muraswski said.
The bridge is one of three such structures in the county. The other two, in Buttonwood and Buckhorn, were renovated in 1998.
Lycoming Supply performed the work on the bridge. That work included the installation of a new foundation, new flooring, new side boards and a metal roof, according to county Transportation Planner Mark Murawski.
About two-thirds of the structure was replaced, he said. Only the bridge trusses are original.
The bridge was built in 1888, and by the time work began on it last year, it was in serious disrepair.
According to Murawski, the September flooding probably would have destroyed it.
"Then it would have been lost to history," he said, adding that the bridge is one of only about 150 still standing in the state.
The bridge, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, may be in better condition than when it first was built.
The commissioners approved a fee increase for zoning services to municipalities that are members of the county Zoning Partnership. The increase went from $1.25 to $1.50 per capita, according to Kurt Hausammann Jr., director of the county Department of Planning and Community Development.
The department,which provides the zoning services to the 17 municipalities in the partnership, has not raised its fee in more than 10 years, Hausammann said.
Even with the increase, the county subsidizes more than half of the cost of providing the service, Hausammann said.
